It has been six months since Apple announced the iPhone. Since then, the list of its rivals has grown enough to make a gadget freak reconsider the collective lust directed at Apple's all-in-one device.

OK, maybe not entirely.

But the industry hasn't waited for Apple to steal its thunder. Many of the biggest names have spun out phones that should give people plenty of choices. Some even bring a little iPhone whiz-bang flash to the table.

Most have been in production since before the iPhone was announced, so they're not knockoffs. But they do show where the industry is going. And it's clear they're not ready to take a backseat to the upstart from Cupertino.

"You can find different devices in the marketplace that can duplicate some of the iPhone's functionality, and not everyone is in the market for a $500 phone," said Michael Gartenberg, a Jupiter Research analyst. "There is an opportunity for competitors, but they're going to have to work hard to capitalize on it."

Some of the most promising iPhone rivals include the BlackBerry Curve, the Helio Ocean, the HTC Touch, the Nokia N95 and the Sprint UpStage from Samsung.

Research In Motion Chief Executive Officer Mike Lazaridis praised Apple's innovation and said he is looking forward to the attention Apple will bring to the smart-phone market. But he said RIM, maker of the BlackBerry, is bringing plenty of action to the party with its Curve, which hit the market a month ahead of the iPhone.

He said he's confident most people still prefer the traditional keyboard that BlackBerry has perfected over the touch-screen keypad that will be on the iPhone.

"The industry has shown that well-designed tactile keyboards are the standard. That's what people prefer," Lazaridis said.

Helio, the startup progeny of EarthLink and South Korea's SK Telecom, is betting on its first smart phone, the Ocean, an eye-catching multimedia and messaging device that sports two sliders.

Helio CEO Sky Dayton said he believes the Ocean will hold its own against the iPhone, delivering a better messaging platform for users.

"There is a whole generation of consumers that grew up on the Internet, and life orbits around the mobile device," Dayton said. "But there hasn't been a device that delivers on that. It's been a desert, but we've got the water."

The iPhone isn't the only phone with a touch screen. HTC's Touch, which was released last month in Europe, features a similar interface that allows users to brush their fingers up and down, side to side, to move from various menus and through various libraries.

David Smith, director of marketing for HTC, said the Touch, which will be available soon in the United States, will benefit from the attention Apple brings to touch screens, something HTC has been working on for years.

"We think we have the ultimate touch experience in a mobile device that people have been waiting for for years," Smith said.